 | ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
 | OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age. |
 | NOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age. |
The Blue Door
- By Ann Rinaldi
- Genre: Historical Fiction
Common Sense Media says
Potboiler plot, but some good history.
Parents say
Kids say
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that readers will get a sense of what it was like to work in the textile mills of Lowell, Mass., although the slavery on the southern plantation is atypically benign.
What's the story?
The Chelmsford family saga turns into a thriller as Abigail's granddaughter fights her way back to New England, escaping evildoers, exploding steamboats, and spies. She becomes trapped in the drudgery of her own family's textile mill. Still good history although the plot's a potboiler. Fans of the first two books will want to read it.
Is it any good?
This last book in the Chelmsford sisters trilogy, following Stitch in Time and Broken Days, reunites the family and their pieces of quilt that the first two books divided. Ann Rinaldi she mars her writing with frequent sentence fragments. She strains to concoct a plot that will bring the quilt and the family back together, and relies on remarkable coincidences to keep the story moving.
Wild coincidences abound. Grandmother Abigail forces the 14-year-old Amanda to remain silent for two weeks, teaching her an unusual skill that comes in handy later when Amanda can't betray her southern accent while hiding in the Lowell textile mills. When the evil Nicholas chases Amanda through the dark streets of Lowell he's certain to kill her. Fortunately, Nancy, Thankful's half-Indian daughter, formerly called Walking Breeze, just happens to be out and about, armed with scissors.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about working in the mills. Did anything surprise you about the working conditions? What do you think about allowing such young children to work?
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| Author: | Ann Rinaldi |
| Book type: | Fiction |
| Genre: | Historical Fiction |
| Publisher: | Scholastic Inc. |
| Publication date: | January 1, 1996 |
| Number of pages: | 272 |
| Paperback price: | $4.99 |
| Publisher's recommended age(s): | 12 - 14 |
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